Sunday, March 10, 2013

Getting Fit

Stepping the mast after transiting the Erie Canal

Once we decided we were really going to
do the cruising thing, I began pouring on the steam in my personal
fitness routine. It wasn't enough just to keep moving. I figured I
was pretty fit for an old guy, but I wanted to be sure that I had
enough strength and stamina to handle a 42 foot sailboat. I upped the
ante on the weights and aerobic exercises. I even went so far as to
go to a physical therapist to strengthen a knee that once in a while
felt like it might give out on me. This was all going very well. Then
one day, lying on the mat at the gym doing some exercise which was
supposed to strengthen my butt muscles (the therapist said this would
help my knees) I happened to catch sight of loose, wrinkled skin
hanging from the crook of my arm. My god, I thought, that's just
what an old man's arm looks like. That can't be me! The sight was
made worse by the fact that I had been going through slides taken on
our year aboard Escapade, 27 years ago. While I was
never what you would call a hunk—I had what in my school days was
described as an isomorphic rather that a mesomorphic build (you young
ones, look it up!)--I still thought I looked pretty buff in the
pictures.

Jim and Dennis Kittel displaying their catch

That image was enhanced by the fact that my slender but
well toned body sported what in those days we called a healthy tan.
Ever since the day while walking along the beach in Barra de Navidad,
Mexico, I started getting little rosettes on my arms from the sun, I
haven't dared expose them to much sunlight. That, and the fact that
I've already had a squamous cell carcinoma removed from one ear
(ending my dreams of becoming a movie idol) means that I'm going to
have to keep my body pretty well covered while we re-explore the
island paradises. Angie says that's probably a good thing.